Hanford's regional run ends in loss to Hawaii

A walk-off home run followed by a six-run rally in the ninth. A game that started on a Saturday and ended on a Sunday.

Even before the Hanford Flames lost 10-8 to Waipahu, Hawaii, on Sunday afternoon, the local American Legion baseball team had a boatload of drama at the Pacific Northwest Regional in Eugene.

Bouncing back from the previous night’s 12-11, 14-inning loss to host Eugene that ended after 12:30 a.m., the Flames (41-21) spent all afternoon Sunday chasing the Hawaii state champions but finished just short of extending their hopes of qualifying for the World Series that starts Friday in Shelby, N.C.

“When you’re in it, you’re just trying to win, trying to scratch, finding a way to move a runner, score,” Hanford coach Nate Roe said via telephone. “Everybody’s in that mode. But when it’s over — it’s just amazing was this team did. ... Truly, the guys we have, I love every single one of them.”

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Saturday’s game perhaps took a bite out of both teams, with Eugene losing to Wyoming 10-5 on Sunday.

Today, Wyoming (53-24) will play Hawaii (20-4) at noon, with the winner taking on Eugene (28-31-1) at 4 p.m. for the title.

Hawaii jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Hanford after three innings, hanging six runs and six hits on the board in the second frame against starter Aaron Enderlin.

But as they had so many times in the postseason and in winning 31 of 33 games before these last two losses, the Flames fought back with two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to close within 7-5. That with the purveyor of that game-winning homer on Saturday, catcher Jake Browne, sidelined most of the game with heat stroke.

“That’s what I’m most proud of,” Roe said. “We went out there with Enderlin, got socked in the mouth, J.B. was sick, and all we did in that moment was fight.”

After reliever Taylor Lindquist set Hawaii down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth, Trevor Jones singled in front of Ryan Neal’s double in the bottom of the inning. One run scored on Colin Serkowski’s sacrifice fly to center, and Brady Heid singled in the other.

The fifth started with Lindquist and Finn McMichael reaching on a hit by pitch and bunt single. Lindquist stole third and scored on Jones’ single. A throwing error allowed the runners to settle on second and third, and Neal singled them in.

But Hanford’s offense was relegated to answering Hawaii scores the rest of the game: Each team scored twice in the eighth and once in the ninth to preserve the two-run margin.

Jones finished 4-for-5, while Neal and Heid each went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

There was no miraculous last-gasp rally like there was against Eugene, when the Flames pushed six runs across in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Hanford had plenty of help, with three walks, two hit batters and an error. Lindquist and Ryan Colson each had RBI singles, and Anthony Pocaro drove in another run on a fielder’s choice.

But the relievers — Serkowski for the Flames and J Owens for Eugene — put up zeroes until Eugene scratched a run across in the 14th against Brandon Peterson, with an error helping to grease the tracks.

Roe said he had never seen anything quite like it.

“The night before, when J.B. hit the home run — I’ve been part of so many baseball games, and it was probably the most special game in my entire life. And the very next night ...”

As for his team’s ability to come back time and again, Roe had a tongue-in-cheek theory: “We’re just dump enough to think we got a chance no matter what’s going on.”